From the Press Room at RR: UBC and Victoria to square off in 24th annual Brown Cup

The above video documents a little of the University of Victoria's winter training, in preparation for the Brown Cup and the spring racing season in 2015. Below, we offer you an official press release from the University of British Columbia, in preparation for this weekend's competition (including preliminary rosters for the UBC men and women), renewing the rivalry with UVic for the 24th time. The UBC and UVic women raced to a very close finish at Crew Classic last weekend, placing third and fifth, respectively, but separated by only 1.6 seconds. What will this weekend hold?

The competition will begin at 10 a.m. The Women's and Men's Brown Cup races will start at 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively.

The Brown Cup is modeled on the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. It is a dual meet between UBC and the University of Victoria raced annually near the end of the school year. The venue alternates between the Victoria Gorge and a three-kilometre course on the Middle Arm of the Fraser River. This year's race can be watched from the Richmond dike, from the finish line in front of the UBC Boathouse, or viewed via a video feed covering the full race course from inside the UBC Boathouse.

"We have had a long stretch of success in the Women's Rowing races with the eight winning the last two National Championships and the 2014 Brown Cup," says UBC Head Women's Rowing Coach Craig Pond. "We know that with this success comes the challenge of trying to stay in our lead role, something which UVic will be happy to take away from us. We are not taking anything for granted and are working very hard to attempt a repeat of last year's performance."

UBC's Men are aiming for their fourth Brown Cup win since 2011, but this year they will have to overcome a UVic crew that won both Canadian Henley and Canadian University Championships.

"The team knows it will be a tough race. We've traded wins with UVic several times over the past year and it will be essential to achieve top form on the day to be successful," says UBC Head Men's Coach Mike Pearce. "We have really benefitted from a strong training environment where our Reserve crew is constantly pushing the Varsity. That competitive internal dynamic goes a long way to making the crew ready for their Brown Cup defence.”